Conventionally, foundations for buildings are often constructed by excavating a site to a required depth, at which, settable material, such as concrete is laid. The foundations may take various forms depending on the composition of the ground on which the building is to be constructed, the design and function of the building and the height to which the building will extend.
In the case of large buildings such as office complexes, skyscrapers and the like, often foundation piles are driven deep into the ground using a variety of known methods and a variety of pile designs, the particular method depending on at least some of the above factors. For example, some piling methods utilise prefabricated pile shafts screwed into the bearing ground layer, such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,697,734 assigned to Beheersmaatschappij Verstraeten B. V.
On sites where the ground is soft and/or there are problems with the presence of water in the area being excavated or where foundation piles are being driven, such as on many coastal sites or sites located near rivers or other bodies of water, piles sometimes have to be driven to incredible depths, and/or very deep excavations made, before a suitable bearing ground layer is reached. This is not only highly inefficient because of the time and expense associated with the need to excavate such huge volumes of material and/or to pile to such depths, but it is also potentially very dangerous for those working on the site. Furthermore, the stability of neighbouring sites and buildings are put at risk because of the inordinately deep excavations and/or piling.
Hence, there is clearly a need for a construction method that addresses or at least ameliorates some, if not all, of the aforementioned problems associated with the prior art construction methods and/or provides a viable commercial alternative to the prior art methods.